Low-Spoiler Mystery of the Mummy Hints and Tips

Welcome to my Mystery of the Mummy hints page. (-: If you're new to this series of low-spoiler computer game walkthroughs, the idea behind them is to point gamers
towards things they might not have tried in each game rather than giving step-by-step instructions or divulging puzzle solutions. There's not much
point in playing an adventure game if you know the puzzle solutions in advance, after all.

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But in this particular game, Mystery of the Mummy, there is nothing optional at all--you MUST solve each puzzle in order to progress. Consequently you really don't need a walkthrough
site at all, and certainly not a low-spoiler one. If you're stuck on a puzzle, the best thing for you is to go to the UHS
site--due to the way their pages are set up you can only see one hint at a time, so you can get the answer to one pesky puzzle without ruining all the
others for yourself. Here's the UHS page for Mystery of the Mummy, if that interests you.
If you want even fewer spoilers--you're considering whether or not to buy the game, for example--please
try my Mystery of the Mummy Review page to find all the pertinant information in one convenient
spoiler-free package.

However, because Mystery of the Mummy is simultaneously marred by 1) really annoying timed sequences and 2) only six savegame slots, I'm going to detail all of the timed sequences
for you on this page so that you have the best chance of not having any of your hard work lost in a reload, because there is nothing, nothing fun about that.

Level Three: There is one annoying timed sequence here, which you may not even notice is timed until it's too late. Save the game before lighting a torch.
The torch is, you see, timed. If you don't find another light source before the timer runs out the torch will go out and you will be eaten by a grue. (Or something.)
There's also a slider puzzle on this level which is timed, but the time allotment is so generous you may not even notice this. You can save before starting the
puzzle, if you're worried about it. Then, near the end of Level Three, save the game again before putting the statuettes on the chessboard, because that
will send you on to Level Four, which begins with a major pain-in-the-ass timed sequence.

Level Four: Level Four opens with the most annoying timed sequence of the game (the one involving scorpions). If you die here, you will need to reload and watch the
between-levels video again. And again, and again, in all likelihood. You really have only about ten seconds to trap the scorpions, grab the two objects you need and get out of
this room, and it will likely take you a few tries to figure it out. There are two other timed sequences on this level, so save your game before entering the parlor (the room
with the lion's head over the fireplace) and before putting the weights onto the clock.

Level Five: This whole level is timed. Ordinarily the time allotment should be more than sufficient, but there's a very complicated picture puzzle near the end. Save
before beginning the grid puzzle, and if it's going to take you too long to solve it, you can jot it down on a piece of paper, solve it off-clock, and reload to enter the answer.
Save before the bomb-disarming sequence, too (though that should be a no-brainer).

These are not the only points at which you can die--in levels Three through Five there are a few potentially fatal non-timed actions you can take (like opening a trapped drawer incorrectly
or touching an electrified railing). However, these are actions you should be able to deduce the danger of using your gaming common-sense, and they're instant-death scenarios,
so your usual savegame habits will naturally protect you from having to replay much of the game even if you fall into one of them. The timed sequences, unfortunately, are extended
and rather badly done, so it would be difficult for anybody to navigate all of them correctly with only six savegame slots.

One final note: moving the chair in the laboratory is ridiculously difficult--you have to pixel-hunt for the one 'acceptable' place to put the chair down, and until you find
it, you can't move, access your inventory, reload your game, or anything else. Meanwhile the timer keeps ticking. You can literally run out of light and die because Sherlock
Holmes can't find a spot on the floor he considers suitable for a desk chair. This is a completely pointless exercise, so here's the spoiler: you have
to actually click on one of the walls, at which point Sherlock will carefully set the chair down against that wall. Ladies and gentlemen, the most brilliant man in London. ;-D